An acupuncture device using a laser beam is known from WO-02/40098 A1 having a device to generate the laser beam and a connected handle. The handle is provided with an optical fiber that is connected with a laser beam generation device and that contacts a patient's body in the acupuncture process and transmits the laser beam to the body or ensures that the laser beam penetrates the body.
The effectiveness of this device in treating pain is not a matter of dispute; however, the optical fibers made of commercially available plastic fibers that transmit the laser beam from the laser beam generation device to the output section of each handle sometimes cannot handle the continuous load when these devices are used in practice, and sometimes they break and their performance decreases. Another problem with this known device is that the tip forming the output section of the optical fiber in conventional plastic materials quickly becomes comparatively blunt, especially as cosmetics on the patient's skin can be burned into the tip. Furthermore, the macromolecular structures of the plastic fibers denature and degenerate owing to the permanent load which hence decreases the output of the transmitted laser energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,411 describes a laser device and a laser method that can be used for acupuncture on a patient's body. Individual laser diodes are connected to a controller by means of electrical lines. The laser diodes are within a housing that is adhered to the patient's body.
However, the desired effect of acupuncture pain therapy can fall woefully short with such devices as the laser beam can only penetrate the outermost skin layers and owing to the large area that is irradiated.
DE 90 10 925 U1 describes a device for irradiating blood in which the blood is guided through a glass tube exposed to UV radiation.